Cotillon

Arthur Benjamin

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General Info

Year: 1938 / 2005
Duration: c. 10:55
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - £68.99 | Score Only (print) - £6.99

Movements

1. Lord Hereford's delight
2. Daphne's delight
3. Marlborough's victory
4. Love's triumph
5. Jigg it e foot
6. The charmer
7. Nymph divine
8. Tattler
9. Argyle

Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

A cotillon is a formal ball, specially one at which young women are presented to society. The word most likely evolved from the Old French term "cotillon," meaning "petticoat" or "under-petticoat." The word was applied to a brisk dance by eight persons, in which the ladies held up their gowns and showed their under-petticoats.

The Cotillon suite was written in 1938 and premiered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in February 1939. The work is subtitled A Suite of English Dance Tunes. They were derived from The Dancing Master, a collection of dance tunes published by Pearson and Young in London (1719), but reflect the compositional style of the early twentieth century. The music is very tonal, and the transcriber has scored alternating movements to feature woodwind choir with some minor complementary brass. Movements 2 and 4 do have some interesting harmony structure with dissonant chords. The woodwind movements alternate and contrast with neighboring full-ensemble movements.

- Program Note from Teaching Music Through Performance in Band

Commercial Discography

Audio CD: College of New Jersey Wind Ensemble (William H. Sylvester, conductor) - 2012

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Calvin University (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Wind Ensemble (Tiffany Engle, conductor) - 12 March 2021

Works for Winds by This Composer

Cotillon (tr. Silvester) (1938/2005)
Heritage (tr. Dutroit)
Jamaican Rhumba (arr. Lang) (1955)
North American Square Dance (arr. McLain) (2014)

Resources

Benjamin, A.; Silvester, W. (2005). Cotillon: A Suite of Dance Tunes [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: London.
Sylvester, William H. "Cotillon." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 6, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 604-615. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2007.